Stacy and the nightmares
by Freida5
Summary: This is about NiGHTS before he turned good. Will Stacy get past him to nightopia, or will she be stuck in Nightmaria forever?


Hey, this is just a little scribble I made after I played Nights for the Wii. don't complain that I don't have Jackle, i don't really know who that is.

I don't own anybody that belongs to Nintendo (unfortunately). enjoy if you can, I would love reviews.

--

Stacy fell to the ground with a cry "Hey no, Mike cut that out!" the larger boy loomed over her

Mike, the red belt she was sparring with stared down at her "girls don't belong here. Get out." he said coldly and stomped on her hand. She howled in pain.

"Stacy, if you can't handle one sparring match, then I'm going to have to kick you out of the school." Sabunim Kitamura snapped at her. The beefy instructor stood over her hands on his hips. "I guess little girls just aren't cut out for this dojo, huh guys."

All the other students stopped their sparring. A hundred cold eyes were looking down on her as she cradled her hurt hand. "Saubunim" she choked out. She felt like bawling. He was always picking on her, always! "Just… just leave me alone."

"Aww, the widdle baby wants me to leave her alone." He said in a sad baby voice. "Well too bad, you came to this school wanting to be toughened up and you're going to get it. Boys!" suddenly all of them were wielding baseball bats. They closed in and Stacy screamed-

And was jolted awake. She flailed about wildly for a second, managing to knock the lamp off of her nightstand before realizing she was home and in bed. She snatched her glasses off of the stand and staggered towards the bathroom.

Stacy looked at herself in the mirror, shaking. Her blond, shoulder length hair was a mess, but then it usually was. Her gray eyes were slowly losing their scared look and returning to sleepy pouches. She splashed some water on her face, got a drink and returned to bed.

She shook herself mentally. It was only a dream after all. True, she felt out of place in a school where there were only boys, and it was obvious the teacher didn't like her, but baseball bats? She turned over forcefully and tried to keep it off of her mind, but the dream was still niggling at her. She took a peek at her ceiling. Jackie Chan from the movie Rush Hour beamed at her. She looked at the far wall where a similar Jet Lee poster stared down at her. Stacy sighed contentedly. With these protectors watching over her she fell back asleep.

--

Stacy fell to the ground with a cry "Hey no, Mike cut that out!" the larger boy loomed over her

Mike, the red belt she was sparring with stared down at her "Girls don't belong here. Get out." he said coldly and stomped on her hand. She howled in pain.

"Stacy, if you can't handle one sparring match, then I'm going to have to kick you out of the school." Sabunim Kitamura snapped at her. He stood over her hands on his hips. "I guess little girls just aren't cut out for this dojo, huh guys."

Here she was again. She felt hot tears rise to her eyes, but blinked them back rapidly "Saubunim, I…" then she spotted something new. The Korean flag that hung in the back of the room didn't have a red and blue ying yang any more. It was replaced by Jackie Chan's face.

She couldn't cry in front of him. Stacy let go of her hand and pushed herself back up. She knew she could never take on her fourth dan black belt teacher, no matter how much encouragement she got from her hero. So she left.

It was just that easy. She turned and walked past the rows and rows of hostile boys and exited the door. The bell on the top of the door chimed softly as she left the dojo.

Instead of the busy street that the dojo entered into, she was suddenly in a quiet courtyard. A fountain splashed in the center of a paved circle, with a high iron fence surrounding it. Outside the fence a huge pine forest grew. It was dark and a little spooky but she went inside anyway.

As she walked around the fountain, she almost didn't see it. It was sitting in front of huge wooden doors that lead to nowhere, a small design in stained glass above it. It looked human, but it was so bizarre she wasn't sure of it. It had a huge purple hat with two spikes, like a jester's hat and a vest on its tiny little body. It had wide poofy sleeves purple boots on the ends of spindly limbs. It also had a golden mask on its face. It was just sitting on the steps leading to the door, eyes closed and head sunk. It looked asleep.

She cautiously approached it. "E-excuse me, are you alright? Can you tell me where I am?"

It raised its head and stared at her straight in the eyes. She gasped. Its eyes were huge and red, and it had a sharp row of fangs lining its mouth. "_go back_" it said in a strange wavery voice that chilled her to the bone.

She was frozen in fear. The thing slowly stood up and she realized that its feet weren't actually on the ground. It floated towards her slowly, its mouth opening wider and wider, showing more and more rows of teeth in its gaping maw-

She cried out and jolted again. She rolled out of bed with a thump and lay on the floor panting. What the heck was going on tonight?! All of her dreams were horrible! What happened to that fun dream where she was exploring a ruined temple deep within the jungle?

Just then she remembered the door. That door, there was something about it… then she saw in her mind's eye the stained glass above it. It looked like a pyramid. One of her favorite recurring dreams was finding a burial chamber deep within the Egyptian monuments.

That, that _thing_ was stopping her from getting to her good dreams! It put her in that dojo, and then kept her from going back to the temples. She looked at her posters again, and punched her fist into her palm. That's it! She was going straight back asleep and showing that freak a thing or two!

--

This time she didn't even get knocked down. Stacy intercepted Mike's sweep and punched him in the gut. He doubled over wheezing.

"What do you think you're _doing_ girl?" her Sabunim stormed over.

"Blow it out you butthole Kitamura" she said and walked past him "I have bigger fish to fry." Oh man, how good did that feel? Her dream instructor spluttered in rage as she let herself out of the school.

She was back in the courtyard again. This time she stormed straight over to the sleeping figure. "Get out of my way, you, you… stupid jester thing." She said hotly. "I'm going to my good dreams."

It didn't move. She took a few steps forward. She was right in front of it and it still wouldn't get up. "Alright, I'll just walk around you." she said, unsure. She stared to skirt around it.

Quick as a blink, she was being grasped by thin white arms and rows of fangs were mere inches away from her face. It lunged and-

"Oh… oh darn it!" she rolled over in bed and punched her pillows. "It tricked me! The stupid monster tricked me! Ooh, I'll make him pay for this…"

--

It was too early last night to go for another round with the jester. The last time she fell asleep Stacy concentrated on having no dreams at all. It seemed to work, and woke up dreamless when it was time for school.

Her parents were worried when she said she was going to bed at 7:30 that night. "Are you alright dear? You're not feeling sick are you?" her mother asked concerned.

"Maybe I am. I'm just feeling so tired. I might have a bug or something." She said offhandedly. Her mind was still racing on strategies to beat the monster.

"Well if you still feel bad in the morning you can sleep in and go in late to school. Don't go if you don't feel well."

Stacy hadn't even thought of this angle. If she slept in she would have that much more time to fight. "Thanks mom, that sounds like a good idea. Good night"

"Good night honey, pleasant dreams." Her father said.

She turned so her parents wouldn't see the determined grin on her face "Oh, I'll make sure of it."

"What was that?"

"Nothing mom."

--

Her first excursion into sleep didn't fare so well. The Jester had gotten wise and placed her into a different nightmare. Instead of the dojo, she was now in a crypt.

Stacy loved movies (kung fu was the best of course), but the one thing above all she could not stand was zombies. The mere thought of a dead person coming alive again was enough to make her palms sweat and her heart race. So when she found herself in a locked catacomb, she knew the monster had done its research.

She quickly walked around the room, trying to find a way out while keeping her barely contained panic under control. The only way out was through a barred gate. A heavy iron padlock hung from the sturdy gates. In her dream sense, she knew exactly where the key was, but…

She turned toward the coffin in the room. It was big and black and ominous. She knew the key was in that coffin, but her awake self also knew what else was in it. She was torn between not wanting to see what was in there and getting to the Jester. Eventually she decided that if she did nothing she'd be stuck in this crypt all night and she would have gone to bed early for nothing.

Very slowly, she grabbed the lid and raised it a couple of inches. No undead hands were reaching out to grasp her yet, good sign. She pushed it open the rest of the way and let he door rest on its hinges. She looked at the interior of the coffin confused.

Resting on the bottom of the casket was an old iron key. Nothing else was there except a dead spider in the corner, and wasn't scary at all. What kind of nightmare was this? She reached in for the key and got it.

Suddenly the walls crashed in around her. Zombies moaned and shuffled in through the false wall. They surrounded her with the gagging smell of rotting flesh and a forest of decomposing bodies. She tried to back towards the door, but cold arms grabbed her and strong fingers entwined in her hair. They were pulling her down, down, and she tried to scream, but grey hands with black fingernails clamped her mouth tight-

"Ahhhgh!" she lay in bed, her blood pumping. She sat up and rubbed her eyes furiously with the heels of her hands. "That darn monster! I bet it's laughing at me right now…"

--

The second time Stacy knew what was coming, so she got a strategy. Instead of opening the coffin right away, she dragged it right in front of the door so she could grab the key quickly and open the gate as fast as possible. This way the zombies wouldn't have time to overrun her. As long as she kept her cool she would be fine.

She took a deep breath and flung open the lid. To her horror, there wasn't just a single key in there anymore, but a whole ring full of old iron keys awaited her. The walls fell with a crash and the moans started. She frantically tried one key, and then another but it was no use. The zombies had gotten to her before she could even try a third…

--

_There has to be something more_! She thought desperately as she scoured the crypt for the third time. This time to her fury the Jester had painted his face on the wall the zombies would come through when she reached for the key. She could have sworn it stuck out its tongue at her whenever she turned her back on it, but when she looked at it again it went back to grinning manically.

She sat down, her back to the gate. She glared angrily at the black coffin and the huge face behind it. There had to be some way to get the key out without waking up the zombies. She rested her head on her knees, trying not to feel useless. It looked like she would be staying here all night.

Then Jet Lee said "Come now, you are trained in the way of martial arts. Surely you can think of a way to get out of here." She looked up and saw him standing there, an exasperated expression on his face. "You cannot get the key, so do not use the key. It is that simple." He made a shooing motion and Stacy scrambled out of the way. He crouched into a ready position and then sprang up. Jet kicked the door with a flying side kick and it broke open.

"You should have figured it out for yourself." he said disapprovingly as he stood in the entrance to the court yard. "You have earned your blue-red belt, start honoring it." With that he disappeared.

"Wow… thank you!" she called after him. Then she hit the floor with her fist "Dang, I should have asked for his autograph. Oh well." she got up and entered the courtyard.

And there it was. The Jester was standing up this time, watching her emerge from the crypt he created. "You thought that would hold me for long?" she said angrily "Well you thought wrong. Now let me into my pyramid."

"I've had more trouble with you than with anyone else before." It said thoughtfully. This time he said it in a normal voice. She though he sounded like a guy. "Who are you?" he asked

"My name's Stacy" she said warily. "What are you doing here? Why won't you let me into my dream?"

"My name is NiGTS, thanks for asking." He said sarcastically "and I'm just doing my job. I must say, your Ideya has to be spectacular. It's guided you through two first rate nightmares." He glided forward. His eyes were still glowing red, but he had the decency to keep most of his fangs in his mouth.

She stood her ground. It came closer and reached out a hand. Suddenly her entire being was enveloped in red light. "Oh my, an Ideya of courage" he said impressed "and a very strong one at that"

"W-what's an Ideay?" she asked, looking at her lit up hands.

He shook his head "Sorry, Reala likes telling you that, in the creepiest way possible of course. He would be mad if I spoiled his fun" the red glow faded "Look I'm sorry. If it was up to me I would let you in. but Wiseman posted me in front of Nightopia and told me to keep visitors in Nightmareia until Reala gets their Ideya."

"You just said a lot of things with –a on the end that made no sense." Stacy said flatly. "And none of it matters. I'm getting to my good dreams right now. If you don't move it, I'm just going to have to go though you instead of around you."

"Oh ho, thems fightin' woyds." He laughed and floated up higher in the air. "I really don't think I can scare you into consciousness anymore, so I'll just have to pound you awake. How does that sound?"

"Bring it!" she bent into a fighting stance. She would show Jet Lee right here and now that she was worthy of her belt. He dove towards her, and she noticed for the first time bright purple sparks flew out of his… well behind him like a streamer as he flew. He got to about head level and started to fly in circles around her. She leapt up to grab his boot to pull him down but suddenly there was an explosion-

She awoke in her bed "hah? What happened? Oh darn you… NiGTS! You won't get me with the same trick again!" It looked like she would need more then flying side kicks to take down that purple jester. Now this was getting serious. Stacy determinedly fell asleep again.

--

This time Stacy smiled as she entered the creepy crypt. She turned away from the coffin and examined the door. Well, if Jet Lee could do it, she could too… she hoped. She psyched herself up and then launched a spin back side kick at the lock. It sprang open. In fact, it shattered. She looked at it closely and saw it had been glued back together in the first place. She guessed she didn't give NiGHTS enough time to prepare for her. Excellent.

But instead of opening up to the courtyard as usual there was another room. She could see a normal door at the end of a plain hallway. She crept into the room slowly. What would he throw at her now?

Nothing happened. She picked up her pace a little and started heading towards the door… only the door didn't head towards her. It kept even with her, never letting her get close. She started running, but it started getting even further away. When she stopped to catch her breath it was almost invisible, just a tiny speck in the distance.

_NiGHT is trying to stall for time_. She thought and wiped her forehead. _He's waiting for me to wake up on my own._ _This is a classic nightmare, running in an endless hallway, no way out. He probably just stuck it on the end so he wouldn't have to bother with me. Lazy bum._

Well she obviously would get nowhere with running. Stacy had to try something though. She sat with a plop to give the problem a lot of thought. She couldn't have Mr. Lee coming in and saving her again. That would be embarrassing.

O.K. problem at hand: she was here and door was there. She could either try to chase the door down or find another way out. Then a thought struck her. Still sitting, she turned and looked behind her. She grinned triumphantly and got up.

Right behind her the hall opened up into the courtyard. NiGHTS was betting on her being so frustrated with the door in front of her that she would never turn around and see the real way out. _close, but no cigar_ She thought with a smirk and crept up to the fountain.

She peered past it and saw NiGHTS flying around a huge black object. It looked like a mound of clay, and he was skillfully shaping it into a huge figure. She also heard him mumbling something about Reala getting his lazy butt here already. He just finished the detailing on a big clawed hand when suddenly he stood up and looked around, eyes narrowed. "I can feel an Ideya here. Come out!" he said.

"You caught me" Stacy sighed and moved from her hiding place

"Oh, not you again!" NiGHTS moaned. He pulled a giant black cloth out of thin air and swept it over his creation, hiding it "Come on, you need to give me a full day before I can give you a new nightmare. Just wake up already!"

"So you're still not gonna budge on this huh?" she said with a sigh "really, what do you have against me?"

He scowled "you're not scared of me anymore."

"I was up until you said 'thems fightin' woyds.' My dad says that all the time." she said with a smile.

His scowl deepened and he turned from her. He patted the clay figure absently and then asked without looking "Nightopia- I mean, your good dreams… what are they like?"

She stared at him for a second, wondering if she should answer or just make a break for it "don't get any ideas. I can paraloop you out of here in a heartbeat" he growled at her.

Ah, what's the harm? "My best dreams are about finding lost treasures." She said. She closed her eyes and felt the warm breeze from the Egyptian wind. "There might be others with me, but as soon as we reach the pyramid they all chicken out. I go in alone. I'm walking down a stone corridor, a flickering torch the only light. It's a little scary, but it's exhilarating. I'm so excited about what I'm going to find." Stacy opened her eyes a little and saw that NiGHTS was watching her, rapt with attention. "Then the trap springs! Usually it's a cage that falls from the ceiling, or maybe a row of poison darts, but I doge them all! Then I'm running down the passage way, and I find the hidden door to the burial chamber." She saw the treasure piling up in her mind's eye as she described it. "Gold jewelry, ancient scrolls and maps, chariots and chalices, jewels and gems, statues and… um… stalactites? Oh anyway, then I see the big sarcophagus. It's solid gold. I open it up and see a gold covered mummy in there as well. It's just so much history and wealth, and I'm the one that found it."

She opened her eyes and saw that NiGHTS was looking at her strangely. "It sounds… fun." He said after a while.

"Don't you have any dreams?" Stacy asked curiously.

He laughed "I _am_ a dream! How can I sleep if I'm in the land of dreams already?" he paused for a second "Well, I'm not a dream actually, I'm a nightmare."

"The fangs kind of gave it away." Stacy nodded.

"And I've never left Nightmareia." He said. He looked over at her dream door. She could have sworn he looked a little wistful.

She felt a little pang of sadness for some reason, but she brushed it away. "Well, this has been fun chatting, but I have a dream to catch." She said and started walking purposefully towards her door.

"Oh no you don't." he flew in between her and the door.

She frowned up at him "This would be a fair fight if you would knock off the flying."

"Who said I fight fair?" he started flying in circles again.

"You're not going to get me with the same trick twice!" Stacy cried and bolted out of the courtyard and into the woods surrounding it. NiGHTS followed after her laughing. Stacy ran forward until it was almost too late. She teetered on the edge of the cliff overlooking an ocean of black mists. She fell back with a thump, grateful she stopped in time.

"Wow, that would have been a nasty fall." Said NiGHTS cheerfully as he looked over her shoulder at the sea below. "Then again, it might have been better than what I'm going to do to you." his mouth was suddenly open, and rows of fangs were mere centimeters away from her face.

"HI-YA!" Stacy screamed and drove her knee into his crotch. He gave a strange gasping sound and collapsed in a heap. She scrambled to her feet and kicked the jester in the side a few times for good measure. Then she hightailed it back to the entrance gate.

"That _really_ _hurt_!" he said in an angry high pitched voice. NiGHTS flew into her back with a crash, knocking her forward. She was instantly back on her feet and crouched into a ready position. He looked extremely woozy, and had one hand protectively lowered, but he wasn't focused on her. He raised his free arm and flung it at her. The gate behind Stacy clanged shut, locking her out of the courtyard.

"Oh, no fair!" Stacy screamed and raced away down a path.

"Who said… I played fair" NiGHTS panted after her. Once she was out of sight he fell to his knees. Geeze, that girl could pack a wallop! After a minute he straightened, wincing as his tiny body protested. He glided after her up the path. He hoped she wouldn't wake up too quickly this time; he wanted to make her pay for that!

He soared through the thin forest. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." He sang teasingly. "Aw, did I scare you away? Hah, serves you right, nasty little- AHHH!" he screamed as a heavy weight dropped on him from a tree branch above. Stacy clung to his back and wrestled for a firmer grip before she fell. She settled for sitting on his shoulders while holding his hat like reigns.

"GET OFFA ME!" he screamed and tried to buck her.

"YEE-HAW!" she shouted in delight and held one hand up like she was in a rodeo.

"I'm not a pony! Get off!" he flew a loop de loop, then did a barrel roll, but she only screamed in delight.

"Yeah, go faster!" she cheered, and then leaned forward and covered his eyes with her forearm. "Guess who?" she laughed.

"No, stop it! You're going to make me-" NiGHTS flew face first into a pine tree. Stacy's delight turned into horror when she saw she was at least twenty feet up off the ground. She screamed as they both plummeted and-

Fell to the floor with a thump. Stacy untangled herself from her blanket and jumped to her feet feeling great. She had finally gotten the best of old NiGHTS! But she couldn't stop there, oh no. she could only stop when she was safely inside her pyramid. And she had to get to sleep right away. NiGHTS was already half done with his creation, she didn't want to see the other half.

--

Stacy was nervous when she found herself in her next dream. She couldn't go to sleep for a while, replaying NiGHTS humiliation over and over again in her head. She might have given him enough time to make something terrifying. But the room she was in didn't seem too horrible. She was standing in a dark stone corridor with torches lining the walls. She thought something was strange about the room, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. Then she noticed all the torches were flickering in unison, and that the stone patterns repeated themselves over and over again.

He had used cut and paste to make her dream! Thanks NiGHTS, for your continued quality of nightmares.

She plucked a torch from its sconce and set out to find the exit. The hallway turned to the right and then branched off in three different directions. Stacy felt her heart skip a beat. A maze. The idea of wandering around a dark, gloomy, endless labyrinth until she died of hunger and thirst… she shook herself. She couldn't die of hunger or thirst, she was in a dream!

First things first. She searched through her pockets for something suitable and found it. She opened her red sharpie and drew an arrow to the path she was taking and a dot on the floor to show where she came from. She didn't have a ball of magic string, but this would be fine.

She took a right hand turn and went down the exact same hallway. No décor at all. No spider webs, no bones on the floor, no splatters of blood; it lacked all of NiGHTS former panache. This was going to be the most boring nightmare ever.

She found two more cross sections and carefully marked each one with her pen before continuing. She was just about to start singing an n-sync song she had stuck in her head for some reason, but then she found the main hall.

Stacy turned another corner and found herself in a long rectangular room. A long red carpet made a line up the middle of the room, flanked by candelabras. There was an extravagant throne at the end of a carpet, and an old man was waiting there. He sat bolt upright, his hands clenching the arms of the chair, his eyes closed. She took a few steps forward and was going to ask him if he was alright when she remembered what trick the jester pulled.

"The second I get within arms reach of you you're going to eat my face." She stuck her hands on her hips "I told you NiGHTS, I'm not going to be fooled by the same trick twice."

The man suddenly ducked his head. He started laughing, a guttural rasping sound. She tried to fight it, but it sent a chill down her spine. The man spoke "Don't worry my dear, I'll come to you." he rasped. He stood up, and to her horror a row of tentacles, black as night, were forcing their way out of the old man's back. They wrapped around him, covering him from head to foot. The strange cocoon pulsed with an evil purple light. She backed up alarmed as something growled from within the wrappings. First, a night black muscular leg pushed through, then another. A familiar clawed hand ripped out, followed by an arm with a hammer for a hand. The light started flashing faster and faster, and black smoke was pouring out of the cocoon along with a horrible continuous growling. Stacy screamed in terror and shielded her eyes as the thing exploded open, revealing the whole monster…

His head was a smiley face.

She stared at it for a second as the eternally happy circle growled without moving its mouth or its empty oval eyes. Stacy's lips tightened, then trembled, but she couldn't keep it in any longer. She bent over double in a storm of uncontrollable laughter.

The monster was not amused. It swung at her with its hammer and nearly flattened her. O.K., goofy unfinished face aside, this thing was a real threat. Still giggling she scooted back down the hallway, the monster crashing after her. She was still smiling widely, but it vanished the second she got to the first intersection. Very neatly, in the same color pen and with the same arrows NiGHTS had drawn the symbols that meant she had gone down every passageway. She was lost and that was not amusing in the least.

Stacy didn't have the luxury of thinking this time. In three seconds and she would have a fight to the death on her hands. She could either go through the exact same hallway and the exact same intersection over and over and over until the monster caught her or…

She turned back down the hallway and ducked as the nightmare swung at her with its claws. She tucked her head under her arm and rolled between its legs, sprang to her feet again and raced back down the hall to the main room. The thing bellowed and turned around, ready to pursue her.

Back in the main room Stacy calmed down and forced herself to look around like she had all the time in the world. This was the only room in the whole nightmare that was different; the door out had to be here. But the walls were bare. There was the only one thing in the room big enough to hide a door: the chair.

She ran up to the throne the monster man had been sitting in. it was solid heavy wood, and no matter how hard she shoved it wouldn't budge. She heard a familiar snarling behind her and dove out of the way as the hammer came smashing down again. She scrambled to her feet but tripped as she had to duck again to dodge the claws. This time she simply tucked her arms into her chest and rolled away from the monster.

She popped up next to a candelabrum and had a flash of inspiration "Dominoes!" she shouted gleefully as she pushed it hard. It shoved into the one next to it, which knocked over the next. The monster was forced out of the way as a wave of heavy candle holders toppled all over the room spraying hot wax everywhere. Finally the last candelabrum fell with a harsh clang onto the throne. The candles immediately set fire to the seat cushion, which slowly spread to the chair itself.

The black beast howled in rage and came after her, but she was ready for it. She backed out of the range of its claws as it swung at her again, then she darted in and gave a brutal knife hand chop to the back of its neck. The monster didn't even flinch. It caught her in the stomach with its hammer fist and sent her flying. She slammed into the wall and slid down, thinking blearily that dreams weren't supposed to hurt.

She thought she saw for a split second her sheets and duvet cover, but she clung to the labyrinth with all of her strength. The vision of the real world faded and she was facing the invincible monster again.

But she didn't have to beat it; she just had to stall it. Already the whole chair was engulfed in flames. In a few minutes it would die down to embers and she would escape. The monster came at her again, and she lurched to one side to avoid getting squished.

She got to her feet and continued to dart around the monster, never trying to attack back after her first failed attempt. But it kept getting faster and faster. Once Stacy slipped a little on some spilt wax, and she only just missed having her head ripped off by falling on her but. She tried to knock over the other row of candelabrum at it, but the monster just ignored them and kept after her. She was getting winded now. She couldn't keep it up much longer. The chair was only a blackened stump now. Soon she would be able to kick it out of the way.

Just then, the continuous growls were interrupted by something worse. Laughter was echoing up from the maze behind her. It seemed to freeze her and even the monster in place. They both stared in fear at the entranceway to the labyrinth as the noise grew from a sinister chuckle to wild mad laughter.

Stacy and the Monster made eye contact. She jerked her head in the direction of the chair. Without hesitating, the monster ran over to it and swept its remains out of the way with a flick of its wrist. They both raced out into the courtyard together, away from whatever was making that terrifying noise.

As the door to Nightmareia disappeared behind them, the laughter was replaced by another noise, just as strange but totally different. Instead of the usual silence of the empty courtyard, someone was playing a flute. It was a sad sweet melody. She almost felt sorry for the player, except she knew who it was.

She crept up behind NiGHTS. He was sitting in the air and fingering… nothing. The flute had to be invisible. She watched his back as the tune went on. Why was he playing such a sad song? She would think he would play something demented and boisterous, something to match that laughter back in his nightmare. Her musings were cut short as the monster shuffled up to him, its smiley face bowed.

NiGHTS didn't stop playing. He simply removed one hand from his invisible pipe and laid it on the round head of his creation. It slowly collapsed in on itself, shrinking into a smaller and smaller puddle of blackness until it vanished from sight. He then went back to the original tune.

Stacy sat on the rim of the fountain. After a few minutes the song came to a slow sad end. He stood there for a moment, not turning around. Stacy said "That was beautiful."

He started and turned to face her. She stared at him in wonder. His fangs had disappeared, replaced by a small soft mouth. His eyes had stopped glowing revealing huge beautiful purple eyes with cat pupils. She was also in shock by the fact he had tears on his face, but that shock soon turned to anger.

"What are you crying about?" she said angrily "You're the one being a complete jerk about this whole thing. Let me pass and you'll never have to deal with me again."

"You… like my flute?" he asked in a small voice.

"What? Well, yeah, that was amazing what you played." She said uncomfortably. "Does my compliment really mean that much to you?"

"Well when anyone who hears it says 'put that stupid thing away' it's kind of a shock to get a compliment." He removed his mask and hastily wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

She felt the question pressing at her "that's not why you were crying. Why are you so sad? That tune you were playing made me want to bawl my eyes out."

"well…" he looked over his shoulder nervously but pressed on "It's you mostly. I've been in this courtyard for years, and only a few visitors ever get past the first nightmare. You've been the most fun I've had in ages. One of the nicest people I've met too."

She looked at him amused "Kicking you between the legs and driving you headfirst into a tree is considered nice?"

He smiled a little "compared to what Wiseman and Reala do that was child's play" then it faded "but he should be here any minute, and then…" he looked her over once, but then seemed to pull himself together. He said in a business like manner "Sorry about that last nightmare, it wasn't really that scary. I had to throw everything in last minute. Usually I pride myself in my creations, but you gave me a tight deadline."

She shook her head "That's O.K. That laughing at the end nearly scared the crap out of me though."

He frowned "Laughing at the- oh man!" suddenly his eyes were burning red and his fangs were out. "Uh, _you must turn back, WoOoOoOoO"_ he said in his creepy voice.

"It's too late, I saw what you were doing." A deep, raspy voice from above said

Stacy looked up to see another jester floating above the fountain. He had a red pointy hat, and a sleeveless vest. His arms and legs were rippling with muscles, and he had pale blue skin with a sly smirking mouth. Not only did he have fangs, but he had long sharp claws as well. He looked like the brutal version of NiGHTS. He shook his head sadly "Chatting with you little girlfriend, huh NiGHTS? Tsk, tsk, tsk, Wiseman won't be pleased."

"About time you got here Reala." NiGHTS said sourly "I only told you to come here first twenty times yesterday. And Wiseman won't care as long as he has her Ideya. It's a strong one, I can feel it."

"Let me be the judge of that." Reala said and he started flying towards Stacy.

"Get away from me" Stacy said coldly. She could feel that this one was different, he wasn't anything like NiGHTS. Where NiGHTS had only scared her and poked fun at her she felt that Realga could do her real harm. "I won't hesitate to kick your butt"

He laughed at that, the same laughter she had heard in Nightmareia. Then in a blink of an eye she was face down on the ground, her hands pinned behind her back. "You were saying something?" Reala said sweetly as he pressed a knee painfully on her back.

"Knock off the funny stuff and do it quickly" NiGHTS said. She turned her head and saw him floating away over the fence.

That was when she really started to panic. Do what to her? "NiGHTS, wait, come back!" for some reason Stacy wanted the purple nightmare near to her. She didn't want to see him leave. She said and started wriggling wildly "NiGHTS… wait…"

Reala laughed that bone chilling laugh again "Aw, it looks like some one has a crush on you baby brother. Too bad she's going to be leaving soon." NiGHTS didn't reply. He was gone. Reala turned his attention to her

"So, did little brother dear explain what an Ideya was to you?" he said teasingly. He shoved her head into the dirt so all she could do was protest loudly. "Oh good, he saved the exposition to me! I owe him one. An Ideya, my dear, is a piece of your heart. Nightopia, the land of good dreams, needs an Ideay to exist. And if some big mean Nightmaren steals it, do you know what that means?" he let her head up for a second and she gasped for air, her eyes streaming from the dust. He waited for a moment and then smiled evilly "That's right! Nightopia will be destroyed forever, and you will have nothing but nightmares for the rest of your life! Isn't that wonderful? It means you'll be seeing a lot more of me!"

Reala stopped kneeling on her and stood, placing a boot on her back. Stacy just lay there feeling drained. So this was it huh? She had fought through all of her nightmares just to be confined to one for the rest of her life. She thought inanely for a second that she had gone to bed at 7:30 for nothing.

Her form became enveloped in a red light "he wasn't kidding!" Whispered Reala "No wonder you were such a handful for NiGHTS. Wiseman will be very pleased by this great Ideya"

NiGHTS… why was she feeling so sorry for herself when she considered NiGHTS? He had never been to Nightopia… he never even had an audience for his flute. All he had was this courtyard he was guarding. He also had Reala, but that didn't seem like such a comfort. He must be so lonely, only having nightmares to visit and his mysterious master and this jerk on top of her…

And the meaning of it dawned on her. It was all so clear now, why hadn't she thought of it before? It was like all of her nightmares, she had to think of another way around it. But it wasn't to late to escape this one "Reala?" she asked calmly

"What?" he said, concentrating on exacting his prize.

"You don't want to come to Nightopia with me, do you?" she asked, fearful of his answer.

"Pfft, and watch little eggheads fluttering around? No thanks." He said. He almost had it!

"Oh good, it'll just be me and NiGHTS then." suddenly her Ideya pulsed and Reala screamed in fury

"What are you doing?!" he screeched and backed away. The Ideya had burned him! He had never seen anything like this before.

Stacy stood slowly, her Ideay of courage pulsating around her "NiGHTS will be coming with me." she said sternly "You can either come with or stand aside, choose now."

"Or I can rip your face off!" he laughed again, but the Ideay shielded her form its effects now it just sounded like a wheezy giggle. He looked at her, then bared his teeth in anger "You know nothing about us. Just give me your Ideay and forget about that purple sissy."

"I can't, because I've been there before." she said staring down at her feet. "Who am I really? I act all big in my dreams. I've actually been having a blast being the hero these past two nights. But out there in the waking world… I'm just a nobody. In school I'm a freak, in Tae Kwon Do I'm 'the little girl'. I only dreamed of someone swooping in and taking me away to a better place." She clenched her fists and grinned up at Reala "And now I find out I'm the one doing the swooping!" she spread her arms and slowly raised a few inches off the ground.

Reala smirked and flexed his claws "You really think you can take me?" he sneered

"Yeah, I do" Stacy replied calmly.

Reala bared his teeth and moved in to pin her to the ground again. Only this time, he was moving at normal speed. She side stepped and he soared right into a round kick to the gut. Then she whipped around and brought her elbow crashing down on the back of his head. He fell to the ground with a thud, clutching his stomach

"What- was- that!" he wheezed, pushing himself up off the ground.

"Hmm, you may be muscular, but it seems you can't take a hit. Actually, have you ever been hit before? You were probably so fast you just dodged everything." Stacy said curiously.

"Shut up!" Reala howled and launched himself at her. She was ready to punch him, but he flew over her head. She only just realized in time what he was doing and dove out of the way as his trail exploded.

"So that's the way you want to play" she said cockily "Sure why not." She tried a loop for herself and was delighted at the white explosion she got from it. She flew at him, but Reala was a practiced flier. They dove, weaved, and feinted, each trying to drive the other into a deadly loop. Finally while Stacy was trying a complicated figure pattern, Reala gave up on the loops and caught her shoulder with his claws.

"Yeow!" she screamed and fell backwards "None of you stupid nightmares play fair!"

"We're not exactly famous for it, no" Reala said and licked Stacy's blood off of his nails

She grimaced and went in to punch him, he blocked and struck back. They kept exchanging blows, going faster and faster until their hands and feet were just a blur. All of a sudden Reala grinned and head butted Stacy. She cried out lost the rhythm of the battle. He pounded her on the torso mercilessly until she fell limp. He stopped and Stacy fell to the ground unconscious.

"You may have caused trouble for NiGHTS little girl, but you are way out of your league with me." he spat at her. He gingerly felt the corner of his mouth and found trickle of blood there. She was better than he had anticipated. Well, none of it mattered. She was going back to Nightmareia for good right now. He floated down to her, ready to take the Ideya.

As soon as he got close enough to her, her eyes snapped open. In an instant she had him in a bear hug from behind. He cursed at her and writhed madly, but her grip was firm "It's about time I used your own tricks against you" she said through gritted teeth "Payback time!" she flew up with him into the night sky. She soared over the gate and held him in front of her as they flew through the dense evergreen forest.

They came out on the other side, Reala bruised, covered in sap and furious "let _go_ of me you little cretin! I'll kill you for this!" he howled.

"Ah, not done yet!" she said, spying the courtyard. She soared down towards the fountain, and with one had she shoved Reala's hat down over his eyes. He broke free with a triumphant shout, but it was too late. He didn't see the stone fountain and he crashed into it with a sickening thud. Stacy didn't waste time. She looped around him quickly and he was caught in the epicenter of a gigantic explosion.

He fell to the ground charred "I should put you out of commission, creep" she said advancing on him.

"NO!" Stacy couldn't believe her eyes. NiGHTS was suddenly in front of him, blocking her way.

For a moment she didn't comprehend "NiGHTS, Reala is behind you, move." She said, thinking this was a mistake.

He shook his head looking determined "No Stacy, leave him alone. He's my brother."

"NiGHTS forget about him. I want you to come with me to Nightopia." She said trying to make him understand "I know you don't like him, just leave him! We can go explore the pyramid together!"

"I know I don't like him either, but he's my brother. I can't betray him, or my master." He said, avoiding her eyes.

She just didn't understand. Why was he being so dense? "So that's your decision huh? Stay here where you're miserable. Stay here and guard a fountain for the rest of your life and torment children while your creepy brother steals their hearts." She said ruthlessly.

NiGHTS closed his eyes in pain "it's not meant to be. Wiseman would hunt me down and destroy me for disobeying him. And Reala…" he looked down at his smoking brother and sighed "Well, you can't pick your family. Just go, I won't stop you. Go exploring like you wanted to. You earned it."

Stacy and NiGHTS exchanged one last look, hers hurt, his firm. She lowered her head and turned from him. She walked over to her door slowly, hoping a cry of "wait for me!" would stop her. But it didn't. She reached out for the door handle and gripped it tightly. She looked over her shoulder one last time. NiGHTS had slung Reala over his shoulder and was slowly floating away. She shouted after him "My offer will always stand! Just… pop in when you feel like it." He kept floating away until he was out of sight.

She felt like crying as she opened the door, but there was her pyramid waiting for her. She just wished for the first time ever that she wasn't entering it alone.

--

-Epilogue-

"Hey, hey Stacy, listen! Greg here wants to go out with you." a boy sniggered

Greg gasped "No I don't, that's sick! Knock it off Travis!" and he punched his friend on the shoulder as two other boys laughed at him.

Stacy blushed and sunk lower in her chair. Yep, that was her, the ultimate insult.

She was back in school, a week after… everything. She kept telling herself over and over it was all just a crazy dream brought on by her mother's spicy enchiladas. But why was it that whenever she thought of NiGHTS laughing she felt like a piece of her was missing inside?

She slumped her head down on her desk and ignored her noisy classmates around her. She wished the stupid teacher would hurry up and get here already. Then at least most of the kids would shut up. Finally the door opened and Mr. Pirkowski came in. "Students, if I could have your attention please." He said in a booming voice. That was the only way you could get these knuckle heads to pay attention, shouting at them. They finished throwing their paper balls and passing gum and sat down.

"Now, I know this is short notice, but we have a new student here today." He said. The class was suddenly full of whispers, each student fervently praying it was a hot student of the opposite gender. "I want you all to be friendly and considerate to him-" some of the guys groaned but a glare from the teacher silenced them "And make him feel welcome. Arabian, you can come in now."

A tall, skinny boy entered the room. The first thing you noticed about him was the shock of black hair swept back from his skull and gelled into submission into two graceful arches. Then you noticed that his eyes were very large, and were an almost surreal shade of blue that was nearly purple. He was wearing white pants with large purple boots, and a colorful tailored vest. A girl stage whispered from the back of the room "hey, I didn't know the circus was in town!"

A familiar sly smile lit up his face "You would be the first one to know right? Aren't you the bearded lady?" some of the stupider kids laughed, others groaned, but the girl shut up.

"Alright, alright, settle down class. Arabian, you may sit wherever you like." with that he turned to write today's lessons on the board.

As he came towards her, Stacy finally realized her mouth was open and her eyes bulging. He sat next to her and looked at her sideways. "Once every year" he said calmly ignoring her fish face "I get to come to the real world to get more material for nightmares, and what better place for nightmares than middle school? I should be here for a couple of weeks." He suddenly looked a little nervous "We… kind of didn't part on good terms. I could leave if you want."

She swallowed "Arabian NiGHTS." she whispered back "That is such a stupid joke."

He relaxed and grinned at her "I thought you would appreciate it." He turned back to face the front of the class "Oh good, algebra. Kids have bad dreams about this class all the time. I'll already have some good scenarios by the end of the period."

"I always knew math was the stuff of nightmares." She giggled. Wow, she actually giggled! In school!

"Arabian, Stacy, could you please concentrate on the lesson?" Mr. Pirkowski said sternly. NiGHTS winked at her and started copying notes.

As she turned to her text book Stacy couldn't keep the huge happy grin off of her face. Her missing piece was back.


End file.
